Mark Kermode as quoted by HIFF: "A tale of a father and daughter living off the grid in the forests of the Pacific north-west of the US proves the perfect material for Winter’s Bone [HIFF 2010] director Debra Granik. Renowned for her empathetic portrayal of marginalised outsiders, Granik here conjures a low-key drama about cultural and generational divides that is alternately gripping and melancholic, but always shot through with the unmistakable ring of truth. The result is work of overwhelming, understated power that quite simply took my breath away.""In the secretive midst of a vast public park on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon […], reclusive veteran Will (Ben Foster, typically intense) and his teenage daughter, Tom (Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie), live in camouflaged encampments, moving regularly to evade detection. Their existence is elemental; they make fire from the earth and gather water from the sky […]. But when their cover is blown, the pair are captured, interrogated, and forced to re-enter the modern world, with divisive results.""McKenzie, the rising New Zealand star […] combines the astonishing technical skills of a young Jennifer Lawrence with the wide-eyed naturalism of David (”Dai”) Bradley in Kes. Watching Leave No Trace, we feel as though we are watching her grow up before our eyes; her pain, courage and compassion are tangible and real. It’s a pitch-perfect performance around which Granik builds her flawless, deeply affecting film." Mark Kermode, Observer, as quoted by HIFF

AA: Leave No Trace is Debra Granik's first fiction feature film after the unforgettable Winter's Bone (2010). It has the same approach of honest authenticity in its affectionate tale of outsiders. Winter's Bone of course was the amazing breakthrough vehicle for Jennifer Lawrence. Otherwise I find Leave No Trace an even more powerful movie.

The deeply felt sense of the forest is something that strikes a familiar chord in a Finnish viewer (and no doubt also in a Swedish, Norwegian, Russian, or Canadian viewer). For the protagonists of this tale the forest is the true home, and urban communities feel strange and distant. The same sense was caught by Akira Kurosawa in Dersu Uzala.

Will (Ben Foster) and his daughter Tom (Thomasin McKenzie) are very intelligent people, and there is a tragicomic feeling in the scenes in which they are put to psychological tests which are an insult to anyone's intelligence.

Suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder after service in the Iraq War Will has become a misfit. The northwestern forests seem to house many such outsiders. Will has taken good care of his daughter, but inevitably Tom will not stay with her father forever.

The title "Leave No Trace" has a double meaning. It is the true forest trekker's guideline in any circumstances. Here it also means that Will and Tom will have nothing to do with society.

Visually, the movie is magnificent in its account of the great outdoors. This scope format movie is best experienced in a large cinema such as Bio Rex.

Green is the dominant colour. It is the most difficult colour. (In fact "green" is a thousand colours). Especially for digital it is the most challenging colour.

BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: SYNOPSIS FROM WIKIPEDIA:BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: SYNOPSIS FROM WIKIPEDIA:

Will, an Iraq War veteran suffering from PTSD, lives with his thirteen-year-old daughter, Tom, in a public park outside Portland, Oregon. They live in almost total isolation, only entering town for occasional food and supplies. Will makes their money by selling his VA-issued painkillers to other veterans.

After Tom is accidentally spotted in the woods by a jogger, officers arrest them and place them into social services. They are given food and a house on a tree farm in rural Oregon, on the condition that Will abides by the rules of the home owner and social services. Will begrudgingly begins to work on the settlement packaging pine trees, while Tom begins school and interacts with local kids her age in a 4H club. Will feels oppressed by others' presence and tells Tom they are returning to the woods. She follows reluctantly.

Will and Tom catch a ride north with a long-haul trucker, who lets them out, at Will's direction, on the edge of trackless woods. They bushwhack in a direction Will expects to lead to an unoccupied cabin, but cold and darkness force them to build a makeshift tent to survive the night. The next day, they find an abandoned cabin and move in.

Will leaves to find food but does not return for some time. Tom walks out to look for him, eventually finding him unconscious at the bottom of a hill, presumably from a slip and fall. She gets help from some locals passing by, who take them back to their mobile home community. One of them suggests taking Will to a hospital, but Tom, knowing that going to a hospital could mean going back into social services, refuses. A local woman calls a friend of hers, a former Army medic (and fellow PTSD sufferer), who gets Will on the road to recovery. He also lends Will his own therapy dog to ease his mental adjustment to society.

Will and Tom stay in the community for some time while Will’s injuries heal. Tom likes this new home, and hopes that she and her father can stay there permanently. Will, however, continues to feel overwhelmed by social interaction and insists that they leave again. Tom protests this, telling him "the same thing that’s wrong with you isn’t wrong with me". When Will leaves anyway, Tom says that she can not go with him this time, and needs to try to live a normal life. They tearfully hug and part ways.

Jazz Record of the Week 29/2017

Jazz Record of the Week 29/2017

Freddie Redd Quartet: The Music from The Connection [1960] (Freddie Redd Six Classic Albums 2/6)

Jazz Record of the Week 29/2017

Introducing Freddie Redd (Freddie Redd Six Classic Albums 1/6)

Jazz Record of the Week 28/2017

Kenny Dorham: Jazz Contrasts

Jazz Record of the Week 20/2017

Joe Henderson: Page One

Jazz Record of the Week 17/2017

Miroslav Vitouš: The Bass

Jazz Records of the Week 16/2017

Billie Holiday: All or Nothing at All (5 Original Albums 5/5)

Jazz Records of the Week 16/2017

Billie Holiday: Stay with Me (5 Original Albums 4/5)

Jazz Records of the Week 16/2017

Billie Holiday: Songs for Distingué Lovers (5 Original Albums 3/5)

Jazz Records of the Week 16/2017

Billie Holiday: Body and Soul (5 Original Albums 2/5)

Jazz Records of the Week 16/2017

Billie Holiday: Lady Sings the Blues (5 Original Albums Box Set 1/5)

Jazz Record of the Week 14/2017

The Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin: The Inner Mounting Flame

Jazz Record of the Week 13/2017

Eero Koivistoinen: For Children

Jazz Record of the Week 8/2017

John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman

Jazz Record of the Week 7/2017

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: In a Mellotone

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Duke Ellington: Piano Reflections

Jazz Record of the Week 5/2017

Miles Davis: Bitches Brew

Jazz Record of the Week 4/2017

Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus

Jazz Record of the Week 3/2017

Dollar Brand Quartet: Africa – Tears and Laughter

Jazz Record of the Week 52/2016

Albert Ayler: Goin' Home

Jazz Record of the Week 49/2016

Charles Lloyd: Forest Flower, live at Monterey

Jazz Record of the Week 48/2016

Sinikka Oksanen, Antero Stenberg, Radio Sessions 1959-1966

Jazz Record of the Week 47/2016

Django Reinhardt Vol. 6: 1940: Nuages

Jazz Record of the Week 43/2016

The Essence of Louis Armstrong (Phontastic, Sweden, 1987)

Jazz Record of the Week 42/2016

Tomasz Stańko: Balladyna

Jazz Record of the Week 39/2016

Cannonball Adderley: Somethin' Else

Jazz Record of the Week 38/2016

Tommy Flanagan Trio: Overseas

Jazz Record of the Week 37/2016

Miles Davis: Miles Smiles

Jazz Record of the Week 36/2016

Red Garland Trio: Groovy

Jazz Record of the Week 35/2016

John Coltrane: My Favorite Things

Jazz Record of the Week 34/2016

The Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time Out

Jazz Record of the Week 33/2016

Christian Schwindt Quintet: For Friends and Relatives

Jazz Record of the Week 32/2016

Carola & Heikki Sarmanto Trio

Jazz Record of the Week 25/2016

Cecil Taylor: Silent Tongues

Jazz Record of the Week 24/2016

Sonny Rollins: A Night at the Village Vanguard (1957, 2 cd reissue 2016)

Jazz Record of the Week 23/2016

Charlie Mingus: Blues & Roots

Jazz Record of the Week 22/2016

Mal Waldron: Moods

Jazz Record of the Week 21/2016

Django Bates: Belovèd Bird

Jazz Record of the Week 20/2016

Jacques Loussier Trio: The Original Play Bach Vols. 1 & 2

Jazz Record of the Week 19/2016

Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges: Side by Side

Jazz Record of the Week 18/2016

Ray Charles: Genius+Soul=Jazz. Complete 1956-1960 Sessions with Quincy Jones (Genius+Soul=Jazz, The Genius of Ray Charles, The Genius Hits the Road, and from The Great Ray Charles and The Genius After Hours)